what in-sump skimmer do you use?

GovtCheese

GovtCheese

New member
I am looking to possibly upgrade my Euroreef CS12-2.
Does anyone know what in-sump skimmer is regarded as the "best" (top 5)?

The skimmer would, at the least, be rated for 250 and up, because I do have plans to upgrade my tank (possibly 300-400ga) :thumbsup:
 
H&S, Deltec, ATI Bubblemaster, Bubbleking, Tunze. Euroreef if you have lots of money
Octopus, aquaeurousa, ASM, Orcasystems, if you have less cash
I like ASM and Octopus and Tunze and have not had much experience with the others
Larger Octopus units are very nice as are larger ASMs, although I think the reefoctopus units are better priced and just as good
The Tunze masterDOC skimmers and the aquaeurousa knock-offs look pretty interesting too.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9385049#post9385049 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by kodyboy
H&S, Deltec, ATI Bubblemaster, Bubbleking, Tunze. Euroreef if you have lots of money
Octopus, aquaeurousa, ASM, Orcasystems, if you have less cash
I like ASM and Octopus and Tunze and have not had much experience with the others
Larger Octopus units are very nice as are larger ASMs, although I think the reefoctopus units are better priced and just as good
The Tunze masterDOC skimmers and the aquaeurousa knock-offs look pretty interesting too.
Click to expand...

funny... I had hoped that more people would tune in to give me an idea of what would be a great skimmer...

anywayz, thanks kody, your response helps alot!
 
Get an H&S, I just set up a 260 with an H&S 250-2x1260 and I run an H&S 200-1260. They are better quality than Deltec for less money and you have the option of either recirc. or in-sump. I am always amazed that people will setup a 400 gallon tank with thousands of dollars in corals and then not protect their investment with a good skimmer. BubbleKing skimmers are amazing, but there is quite a wait as they are made to order by Klaus in Germany and then shipped to the US in batches every couple months. They have incredible efficiency, but you will be paying for the quality of the skimmer and especially the Red Dragon pump. ER's new skimmers with Eheim pumps are catching up to the quality of H&S and have passed Deltec, but for the price you might as well just get the H&S.
 
TurboSnail8898,

We are always trying to improve our products and I would like to get your feedback on where you feel our RC skimmers fall short when comparing them to H&S' external models.

I appreciate any constructive criticism you can offer. :)

-Jeff
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9391738#post9391738 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by euroreef
TurboSnail8898,

We are always trying to improve our products and I would like to get your feedback on where you feel our RC skimmers fall short when comparing them to H&S' external models.

I appreciate any constructive criticism you can offer. :)

-Jeff
Click to expand...
Jeff, good to see you are looking for ways to improve the products.
My $0.02

One area that I see is pump mounting. H&S and Deltec have glued in fittings, and ER uses Uniseals. H&S has that very sturdy band that runs around the body. Although I have never heard of it happening, the idea of an external skimmer and a uniseal popping loose would be a real mess.

Another area where ER gets dinged around here compared to the German brands is performance. I'm not saying I agree with this assumption, and generally think the performance differences are overstated. This is a more difficult area since there is really no objective testing done to prove one way or another what the differences are.

Take an RS250, AP851, A200-1260. They all have very similar specs and are very close in price. What would be the incentive to buy an ER over the H&S?

Now move to the RC500 Vs the A300 3x1260 and AP703. Again, all 3 skimmers have very similar specs, but the RC500 is $540 less than the H&S and $1500 less than the Deltec! It would seem the ER is far and away a better skimmer for the $. The problem is, when a comparison is made, the general perception is the ER does not perform as well as the other brands even though there is no testing to prove performance one way or the other.

In the above examples with skimmers using similar pumps, similar body sizes, how does your neck diameter, pump location, input/output location and sizes etc stack up to the competition? Are they optimized for maximum performance?

One other thing that I have mentioned before. You have a hole in the product line. You dont have a 10" 2 pump skimmer.
 
LOL, I wrote this huge long involved reply only to have it "eaten" by the lovable IE6 browser.. My mistake, I never use IE6 (I'm a Firefox guy).... Oh well. I'd be happy to chat with you about these questions. They are important points to address.

You can reach me at 949-770-9913 ext 17 9-5, M-F, PST.

I look forward to talking to you. :)

-Jeff
 
Re: what in-sump skimmer do you use?

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9382967#post9382967 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by GovtCheese
I am looking to possibly upgrade my Euroreef CS12-2.
Does anyone know what in-sump skimmer is regarded as the "best" (top 5)?

The skimmer would, at the least, be rated for 250 and up, because I do have plans to upgrade my tank (possibly 300-400ga) :thumbsup:
Click to expand...
If you are looking at an in sump (non-recirculating) skimmer only, I agree, take a serious look at the new ATi Bubblemaster 250, it can handle up to 400g heavy, 500g-700g normal.

But if you're open to recirculating, I also agree with the H&S A250 would be the best fit.
 
I am currently using ASM skimmers on my tanks, but I'm building out a new small SPS tank (60g w/ a huge 40g refugium) and thinking of trying something else. I'm not pleased with the performance of the ASM skimmer on my other heavily stocked tank. They do well under normal loads, but just don't seem to hold up under heavy loads. I'm looking at the Octopus skimmers right. Actually I'm also looking at the H&S, Deltec and Euroreef skimmers too, but not sure they are worth the extra $$$ over the Octopus recuirculating model.

Anyway, for mid-range price, I would highly recommend looking at the Octopus skimmers.
 
I am currently using ASM skimmers on my tanks, but I'm building out a new small SPS tank (60g w/ a huge 40g refugium) and thinking of trying something else. I'm not pleased with the performance of the ASM skimmer on my other heavily stocked tank. They do well under normal loads, but just don't seem to hold up under heavy loads. I'm looking at the Octopus skimmers right. Actually I'm also looking at the H&S, Deltec and Euroreef skimmers too, but not sure they are worth the extra $$$ over the Octopus recuirculating model.

Anyway, for mid-range price, I would highly recommend looking at the Octopus skimmers.
 
Re: Re: what in-sump skimmer do you use?

Re: Re: what in-sump skimmer do you use?

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9414917#post9414917 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by UCanDoIt
If you are looking at an in sump (non-recirculating) skimmer only, I agree, take a serious look at the new ATi Bubblemaster 250, it can handle up to 400g heavy, 500g-700g normal.

But if you're open to recirculating, I also agree with the H&S A250 would be the best fit.
Click to expand...
For the price of an A250, you can get an RC500 which is comparable to an A300. An RC500 would definitely handle 300 - 400G down the road with ease.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9391738#post9391738 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by euroreef
TurboSnail8898,

We are always trying to improve our products and I would like to get your feedback on where you feel our RC skimmers fall short when comparing them to H&S' external models.

I appreciate any constructive criticism you can offer. :)

-Jeff
Click to expand...
Jeff, here is an example of why someone went to H&S over ER. As I posted earlier, the Uniseals on an external skimmer can be a problem.
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1067492

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9438118#post9438118 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Mimbler1
I just received my A250 29" skimmer today. I had ordered it to replace a CS12-2 ER skimmer that was leaking from a uniseal - I just didn't trust uniseals after that, as my application isn't tolerant of leaks. I was concerned about replacing a 12' dia skimmer with a smaller one (10"), but H&S (and Deltec) users told me I wouldn't be disappointed.

The build quality is awesome - either the previous photos don't do it justice or their quality is getting better ( and I was impressed by previous photos). I have to wait for a week to install it because I'll be out of town next week, but I have it running with a vinegar/water solution to help break it in, and it pulls at least twice the air that the ER did. That's no exageration, and the ER is a good skimmer. It was hard to justify that much money for a skimmer, but I am certainly glad that I did! I'll post pictures when I get it installed next week.
Click to expand...

As far as the comparison of airdraw ER Vs the H&S, I'm sure a new Eheim powered ER would have also been a similar if not equal improvement.
HTH
 
sjm817,

The product Mimbler1 had used the old style Flex Tank Adapters like the ones ASM uses. We now use Uniseals and have "O" issues with leakage. We also water test each and every RC skimmer that leaves the factory for leaks.

The main reason we did not go with welded or glued connections was because of potential damage to the skimmer when the pump was bumped or hit hard. I have seen the damage from this and it is well, irreparable- and that makes for a pretty expensive accident.

In addition, the vibration absorption of the uniseals is very helpful in eliminating noise from resonance and we know that noise is a big deal for many people.

As far as the air intake of the EHEIM pumps, it is equal to the competitive products but at a lower power consumption.

-Jeff
 
That's good info Jeff. I've seen the damage that can be caused by pumps breaking off the body as well. Not a lot of fun. My post was an FYI. I thought you would be interested to see why someone would change from ER to H&S. My LFS has an RC1000 with 5 Eheims. I checked it out closely and no leaks from any of the Uniseals.

Another LFS I deal with says he has an RC400 on order. Is this the missing 10" 2 Eheim model?
 
Last edited:
No, there's no such thing as an RC400. It may be a custom skimmer , but we do not have any additional models in the RC line... yet... :) The 10" transitions are other parts are being tooled for right now. We hope to have them in the next 6-8 weeks.... just in time for IMAC...
 
There is. The CS Series skimmers come with EHEIM pumps. They are all made to spec and there are no standard models.

-Jeff
 
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